the latest report is that 700,000 applications have been filed but nobody will say how many have actually enrolled. secretary kathleen sebelius is to testify this week before congress as some republicans continue to call for her ouster. and even democrats now are urging change, ten senators calling for open enrollment to be extended beyond the current end date of march 2014. we wanted to help you understand some of the impact of the president's health care plan around the country. we're going to talk to the ceo of florida's largest health insurer cancelling 300,000 of its policies just this week. we're going to talk to him in just a moment. but first i want to turn to democratic senator steve beshear, republican governor john kasich in neighboring ohio. i wanted to take this out of washington because in kentucky you set up your own health care exchange. in ohio, governor kasich, you declined to do so until the federal government comes in to

do that. let me start with you. the president says there is no excuse for this terrible rollout for obama care through the website. are you as frustrated with how all of this has started? governor kasich? >> is that to me? >> yes. >> yeah. well, look, david, the problem is obama care doesn't control costs. secondly, it's going to drive up the costs for the vast majority of ohioans. it threatens business to grow beyond 50 employees, and frankly, what i think has to concern everybody, this economy is stalled and people don't know what the future is going to bring. and when people are uncertain about the future, they sit on their wallets, and that's why we're not seeing the kind of economic growth that we need to see that's so vital to create new jobs here in the state of ohio. >> that's the argument against obama care, but obama care is here. i'm asking specifically about the damage done by a troubled rollout that you're seeing in your state. >> well, that's got everybody

just shaking their heads. and that's like three things. the government almost shut down. now they're tapping somebody's phone and now this thing. this is creating an issue of confidence in the minds of the american people and doubt with people around the world, which is really serious. now, here's what i think, david, at the end of the day. i think people need to sit down. the obama administration needs to open itself up and figure out how we can get some sort of bipartisan movement moving forward. we sit in a room, we figure out what's good, what's bad, how do we fix it. the problem is in washington, they talk past each other and can't seem to get anything done and it doesn't seem to make any sense. >> we start with what is the law of the land. the governor doesn't think it's going to work, but now, this is the plan and it's not working when it comes to limitation. how disappointed are you with this rollout where you think you have a good story to tell

because you set up your own exchange? >> at 12:01 a.m. when our exchange opened up to enrollment, kentucky started swarming all over our exchange, all over our toll free lines, and in about four weeks, we've had over 300,000 kentucky yaian trying to sign up for obama care -- >> mostly medicaid, though. it's not young people getting the insurance plans to really make this system work, correct? >> of the 26,000, 21,000 are in medicaid, 5,000 are in qualified health plans, but we've got another 10,000 going onto the plans that are in the process of choosing. you know, it's a lot quicker to get somebody enrolled in medicaid once you find out they're eligible. when you go to the plans, they've got to look at all the details and pick the plans that they want. you know, this is working in kentucky. we had and have some of the worst health statistics in the country. and it's been that way for generations.

the only way we're going to get ourselves out of the ditch is some transformational tool. that's what the affordable care act is going to do for us. >> how frustrated are you at the troubled rollout at the federal level which is impacting, what, 36 states that have not set up their own exchanges? >> number one, i'm happy about kentucky. number two, the thing is not working on a federal level yet, but it's going to. the advice i would give the news media and the critics up here is take a deep breath. you know, this is a process. everybody wants to have a date where they can declare victory or defeat or success or failure. that's not what this is going to ball about. it took us about three years to get medicare really working the way it should, and this -- >> the president is the one who said, if this is going to be successful, you've got to get young and healthy people signed up by a date certain or else the model doesn't work to keep premium prices down. is it the news media doing that, or is it the ones who drafted the law who says, this has to

happen or else it can't work? >> in kentucky, about a third of folks going on medicaid and getting qualified health care plans are under 30 years old. that's what's going to happen around this country. people are going to sign up for this. it will take a while to get it in process, but i guarantee we'll make it work because it's good for the american people. >> governor kasich, i assume -- >> one thing i have to tell you, the rollout is the least of the problem here. the rollout looks like a disaster, but in my state most ohioans are going to pay higher cost. in fact, this is not going to control health care costs. here in ohio, we have reduced our medicaid growth from 8 or 9% to less than 3%, and we believe we have to have significant payment reform, that when people do the right thing to drive towards quality and lower prices, there ought to be a sharing of the savings among everyone. i mean, the problem with obama care is it doesn't get to the nub of the problem, which is

higher health care costs that have been out of control. when you roll it out, if it rolled out perfectly, it's not going to achieve what america wants. that's the difficulty here. >> you took on your legislature because you said we need to accept federal money for medicaid because you said it's more important when you go to heaven than whether you kept government small is what did you do for the poor? you seem to be articulating a view that's not just compassionate but reflects the belief that the more people you help that ultimately you can control costs that way. if there's more health care, better health care for more people in ohio, costs will have to come down. so how were you not in line with what the president believes about the potential strength of obama care? >> well, first of all, david, as you can tell, i've articulated my opposition to obama care. but chief justice roberts gave every state an opportunity to try to get federal dollars to improve medicaid. now, we have many mentally ill people in this country who are being treated terribly.

we have people who are drug addicted and drug addiction is in every demographic, every race, every income level. and we also have many veterans who are covered. so ohio gets a good deal. we get $14 billion of ohio money back to ohio to deal with some of the most serious problems. and, you know, i'm not going to ignore the mentally ill and i'm not going to ignore the drug addicted or veterans or very poor working people on my watch. but that doesn't mean i embrace obama care because i don't think it's right. we have our own program that reduces medical costs, we have our own private sector in a payment reform that we believe will improve quality in lower cost. that's the direction we ought to be going, not some laboratory, cooked-up -- i'm convinced the people who created obama care never worked in business and probably never spoke to a businessperson as they were putting this together. >> what do you believe, governor beshear, is the ultimate future of this program? does somebody have to get fired

before they get it right at the federal government? and to governor's key point, although you might take on since there are a lot of remnants of health care that goes back to mitt romney who certainly was in business when he was the governor of massachusetts laying out that plan, will prices stay low enough for consumers to justify obama care? >> yes. i believe it's going to be the case. >> should somebody get fired for how poorly the rollout has gone so far? >> i'm not going to give the president advice on hiring and firing, but when things go wrong, like they go wrong in our state, i take responsibility for it and i fix it. that's what secretary is sebeli and the president are doing, they're taking responsibility for a bad rollout. they're going to fix it. everybody needs to chill out because it is going to work. these plans and medicaid are directed toward prevention and wellness, and that is the future of health care, and i think everybody knows it. >> all right, i'm going to leave it there. governor beshear, governor

kasich, a lot more to discuss on this as time goes on. i appreciate both your time this morning. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. after president obama signed the affordable care act into law in 2010, he often repeated this statement. >> if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it. no one will be able to take that away from you. it hasn't happened yet, it won't happen in the future. >> well, that turns out that it may not, in fact, be the case. hundreds of thousands of americans are receiving notices that their plans are being canceled because of the guidelines set by the health care law. in florida, for instance, the oldest and largest health care plan provider, florida blue, the state's blue cross and blue shield company, confirmed it is cutting 300,000 policies. joining me now from london is florida blue ceo pat geraghty. mr. geraghty, thank you for being here. why are you cutting these people from their insurance? >> well, david, we're not cutting people. we're actually transitioning

people. what we've been doing is informing folks that their plan doesn't meet the test of the essential health benefits, therefore, they have a choice of many options that we make available through the exchange, and, in fact, with subsidy, many people will be getting better plans at a lesser cost. this really is a transition, and, in fact, the 300,000 figure is the entire year. so it's really 40,000 people for january 1, and we're walking them through that transition. >> so if i've got health insurance that i now like, you're writing to me and saying, look, i've got to cover -- i've got to give more comprehensive coverage under this plan as a result. you've got to go find something else. you're going to pay more, chances are, but maybe if you qualify for subsidies, maybe you'll pay less in the end. there is still a disruptive accent. you can talk about migrating, you can talk about transitioning. i'm not just asking about

florida but asking you to look more broadly. there are people who have what they like and they'll end up paying more. there is some sticker shock that will be out there with this law. is that fair? >> david, what i can tell you is that in florida, because that's what i represent, in florida we are doing 3,000 education seminars from the beginning of september through the end of march, making sure that people understand what their options are. we're in all 67 counties, we built retail centers, we're reaching out to our customers so they understand what their choices are. and we believe people will find choices there that work. >> my question is, will people pay more? >> people who are subsidized are probably going to have the opportunity to pay less. it really is an individualized issue. and there may be some people who pay more, but it really depends on your individual circumstances. >> you met at the white house with senior aides going through this obama carroe rollout.

as an insurance executive, you signed up basically for a deal here, which is to say, okay, we'll cover people who have preexisting conditions. we'll do that if you can deliver us some more business. give us younger, healthier people who probably aren't going to need our insurance, and that's how we'll make money and balance out the fact we're going to pay more out, covering people with preexisting conditions. that was the deal. is this model going to work based on the rollout you're seeing? >> well, there is no denying that the rollout has had bumps. and we actually expected there would be bumps in the beginning of the process. the good thing about the meeting we had at the white house is it was very positive, it was candid, we laid issues on the table, we had a good exchange with the folks at the white house and we had a commitment, particular commitment around a piece called direct enrollment. that direct enrollment allows us, the insurance industry, to help the administration get people signed up. as that gets prioritized, we'll be able to help bring people into the exchange, and we think

that that will be a big lift for the installation of the affordable care act. >> did you warn the white house that they could face this, they could face this kind of tough rollout? did they ignore some warnings? >> david, i think the real issue here is we have to work on how do we fix this, we're working together to be positive about how to fix this, we're working with the state -- >> i know what the goal is. did you warn them this could go bad? >> david, we're not looking backwards. i think it really is about how do we move forward and solve this? we serve millions of people across the state of florida. it would be a distraction for me to spend my time looking backwards. i spend my time figuring out, how do we serve the people in florida that were trying to bring most education about their options so they can help their families. >> i'll respectfully point out i didn't get the answer to the question i was looking for. i do appreciate your time very much today. thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll have more on our roundtable on the obama care

fallout, but first the obama care rollout is not the only problem president obama is dealing with. the revelation of spying on our closest allies and out reach to syria and iran. andrea mitchell is here, our chief foreign affairs correspondent. >> we are facing growing outrage with foreign leaders facing u.s. policy and the outrage that we've been spying on them. a new report that the u.s. has been spying on the german leader for more than a decade. president obama is now apologizing to his closest foreign friends as the nsa leak story gets too close for comfort. word from edward snowden that the u.s. has eavesdropped on

frenchmen, even on angela merkel's cell phone. a furious merkel called president obama to complain. >> the president spoke to angela merkel, reassured her that the president is not and will not monitor the chancellor's communications. >> reporter: but the white house did not deny that it had happened. >> is not monitoring, will not monitor. i think you're missing a tense there. you've got your president progressive there, you got your simple future, but you're missing your past progressive. >> reporter: the secretary of state has been putting out fires here, there and everywhere. especially over u.s. policy toward syria. after two years of war and the assad regime's chemical attack killing more than a thousand civilians, including children, the saudis accused president obama of backing down, even helping assad butcher his own people. >> the shameful way that the world community accepts the impunity of the butcher of syria

is a blot on the conscience of the world. >> reporter: furious that the u.s. did not carry out its threat to retaliate, the saudis shocked the u.s. by refusing a seat on the protest. >> i think there is doubt whether the united states is really paying attention, really knows what it wants to do. >> reporter: the saudis and israel also worry about iran. is the u.s. too eager for a nuclear deal, too easily charmed by iran's president, ruhadi. >> i think no deal is better than a bad deal. i think a partial deal that leaves iran with these capabilities is a bad deal. >> reporter: secretary kerry said this week that the government shutdown made allies around the world ask, will america be a credible partner in the future? key allies say they're more worried about u.s. policy and spying than american politics here at home. david? >> andrea mitchell, appreciate you being here. i want to turn now to republican

congressman peter king. he's been an out spoken voice in the republican party on some of these foreign issues. congressman, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> let's talk about the spying. there is a view in some quarters. it's bringing together kind of the libertarian left and right saying the spying is under control. is it undercutting america's reliance on allies for cooperation on anything from economic reform to chasing terrorists? does it have to be reined in? >> first of all, david, i think the president should stop apologizing and stop being defensive. the reality is the nsa has saved thousands of lives not just in the united states but in france, germany and throughout europe. the french is someone to talk. they carried out operations against the united states, the government and industry. as far as germany, that's where the hamburg plot began which led to 9/11. they've had dealings with iran and iraq, north korea, and the french and the germans in

european countries. we're not doing it for the fun of it. this is to gather valuable intelligence which helps not just us but also helps the europeans. >> but it's deep. we were apparently bugging angela merkel's phone from the time she was an opposition leader in germany back in 2002. again, i understand why this is done. i cover these issues, but i think a lot of people watching us right now are thinking, what is it we're doing? you mentioned the hamburg plot. we share intelligence with germany. they're allies in this fight, not someone to be looked at so skeptically. >> first of all, we do share intelligence and we've saved many lives in germany because of the intelligence we've given them. we're not doing this to hurt germany, but the fact is there can be information that is transmitted that can be useful to us and ultimately useful to germany. i think, again, this is out there. snowden put it out there, and it bothers the hell out of me that people in my own party such as rand paul, justin amosh, people on the left, somehow they try to

exult snowden. this guy is causing tremendous damage to the country, and we shouldn't be on defense. i think the president -- quite frankly, the nsa has done so much for our country and so much for the president, he's the commander in chief. he should stand with the nsa. he should be there with general alexander and the troops there. >> why don't we have a bigger debate, then, in congress? we really haven't had a debate in congress since 2001 to say what's appropriate use of executive power, what's appropriate use of spying that goes on? drones came up this week in the collateral damage from drones. what are the powers the president should have to fight terrorism? it seems like congress doesn't really want to have that debate because they're afraid to do it because they don't want to look weak. finally, some are saying let's push the debate out into the open. >> i'm not afraid of anything, but if we go too much into the open, then we let the enemy know what's going on and we create problems. the idea is we have to have a stronger fence, we have to have stronger spying, if you want to call it, stronger surveillance,

and as far as the use of drones, the fact is every war there is collateral damage. unfortunately, innocent people are killed. but the efforts of the u.s. to protect innocent lives, i say, is unprecedented. you want to go back to hamburg and what happened in world war ii when thousands and thousands of civilians were killed, the fact is this has kept americans alive, it's also helped people in the mideast. i think we should stop being so worried about drones. tell them not to worry about people being killed by drones and starbuck's. the president goes to fort meade. he can find time to go to blasio, he can find time to go to fort meade. >> what would you say to reassure the saudis and other sunni muslim regimes who believe that the u.s., by not doing enough on syria, by opening up talks with iran, are essentially turning their back on traditional alliances and em

powering iran -- and again, it's important to point out the sunni-shiite split in the economic world are huge right now, and that's why the saudis are so concerned. >> when the president apologized in 2009 with the way he was treating israel in 2009 and 2010, and now with a terrible policy on syria, he went back and forth, led the allies in one direction, went another. i'm not apologizing for the saudis, but i understand how they're very distrustful of the president right now, i understand why israel is very distrustful. i think he's got to be firm, he's got to be consistent. what he did in syria was undefensible because it send so many mixed signals and caused people to lose faith in our country, which should be the wrong thing because we are still a pillar of strength in the country. but the president, again, is so apologetic, and by going overboard with iran and dismissing israel, he's sort of leaving the saudis out there and again, solely inconsistent.

i think we'll look back on syria. the mixed signals he sends about syria over that two to three-week period will have lasting damage. >> if in the end sitter yathe s regime are forced in the end without using military force, that debate should continue. i'm out of time right now. thank you. >> thank you, david. coming up here, balance of power. will democrats take back the house? how the shutdown in obama care are playing across the country. later, nbc news anchor brian williams reflects on the one-year anniversary of hurricane sandy, which is coming we know why we're here. to chart a greener path in the air and in our factories. ♪ to find cleaner, more efficient ways to power flight. ♪ and harness our technology for new energy solutions.

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there's some congressional politics now. we're here with our political director chuck todd for a first read sunday. chuck, it's been a tough few weeks politically for republicans. the question is, is it really an opportunity for democrats in 2014? can they change control of the house? >> look, if this were october 27, 2014 instead of 2013, we would be talking about democrats having a serious chance. just from the summer now to early fall, it was dead even between an nbc journal poll over who should control the house. right here during the shutdown, a breakout here, eight points, it was the largest lead we'd shown in four years. you think democrats have a shot. but let's remember, this is a gerrymandered house. democrats actually won the house

in 2012. they had more democrats than republicans in 2012, yet there are more congressional held republican seats, 234. democrats only have 201 even though they won the majority in 2012. there are a few vacancies, though. they need to pick up 17 seats. this looks like it could be doable. why? because there are 36 seats where the president either won or got 48% or better that are currently held by republican members of congress. so you look at it and it's doable. there is an interesting canary in the coal mine, if you will. we're going to have a special election in the 13th district. long-time congressman just passed away. there is going to be a special probably january, february, march, something like this. bush carried it in '04, obama carried in '08 and '12. if democrats can't win a seat like that, then they won't control the incumbents.

this is shutdown fodder. what happens if the health carrollocar care rollout continues to be a debacle? this gets wiped out. coming up here, taking the fall. should anyone in the administration lose their jobs because of the obama ca care rollout as some argue? plus a controversial photo emerged this week. should he have done (vo) you are a business pro. maestro of project management. baron of the build-out. you need a permit... to be this awesome. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. (aaron) purrrfect. (vo) meee-ow, business pro. meee-ow. go national. go like a pro.

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>> "meet the press" is back with our political roundtable. rick santorum, jennifer granholm, neera tanden and alex

castellanos. >> governor granholm, how did they box this? >> the president is so mad about this that he himself will go down and supervises t the writi of code if this is not fix bid the end of november. this will get fixed. the republicans have many opportunities to inflate the website with obama care because they have to justify why they shut down the government for weeks. john kasich when you interviewed him this morning said something very interesting. he said ohioans are not going to pay for the insurance in other states. we pay money for our federal taxes, we're going to get that back. you look at states like texas and texas is going to have all those texans paying for the insurance in california or in michigan? i don't think so. it's a great 2014 issue for both congress and for democrats running for governor.

>> that's not the case. texas is not expanding their medicaid rolls. they're not giving them away because they're not expanding the rolls which is care cost for them, and you know the obama care only pays the bills for a short period of time. 90% but they don't pay the whole thing. again, you're asking people to expand the role of government, and in texas, they don't want to do that. they want to have private sectose sectors -- >> so they'll give those away. the texans pay those taxes. >> those tax dollars are not paying for obama care. >> let's not just talk about the expansion of medicaid, though. i think it's very easy to lose me and a lot of our viewers here. keep it to the big question, which is, how did this get botched and what are the consequences of it? there is a model here, and it's only going to work if one thing happens, and that's if young and healthy people sign up. >> there is a lesson here, and

what we're seeing is the collapse and failure of big old dumb, top-down higheirarchical government in washington. it can do a lot of things but it can't deal with the complexities of an adaptive, modern society. if obama care was an anomaly, that would be one thing. but tell me one thing washington is doing a good job at. education, a disaster. social security, it's bankrupt a ponzi scheme. name something washington is doing -- can't manage its fiscal account. they said part of the problem of being president is the government is so vast, you can't know what's going on underneath it. government seems to be expanded? that's the wrong answer. >> i think millions of seniors thinks social security and medicare are working pretty well, but it's good to know my republican colleagues don't like social security and medicare, which is a long-running one.

let me just say about this. obviously there have been challenges. but, you know, i've worked in health care policy for quite a long time, and i remember the rollout of the medical care prescription drug bill, which there were a lot of problems with. and i remember senators, republican senators, saying don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. one of those senators was rick santorum at a hearing saying, you know, let's have patience with this. it's going to work out. and the medicare bill has worked out. that was a complex system. in fact, it was much, much more -- >> it was not a government rollout. >> it was run by cns just like this is. these are private options just like this is. >> it's not just like this is. this administration, unlike the medicare prescription drug, this administration had three years, and all of a sudden -- >> it was two and a half years when the government came up with a deal. >> it's been three years to roll this out and it's been an

unmitigated disaster. to compare the minor problems, and they were minor -- >> i think the comparisons are absolutely out there. >> the thing to put out on the table is to say, look, if republicans -- and we just heard from governor kasich -- is opposed to health care, as if this isn't the law of the land, it's going to be a disaster. we all know if the enrollment problems are not fixed, it's going to be an enormous problem. you know that and the president knows that. but if it does get fixed, then is this the proxy for whether it works? and if there's a solution there, then what goes wrong next? >> i think republicans understand and need to understand, if they don't, that a website can get fixed. i think as governor kasich was saying, is this emblematic of a bigger problem, and again, as we were talking about before, washington is doing things in an old way. heirarchical top down. what are things that work in our

society? things that are natural and bottom up. we make choices and the democrats are in the informity. and here's the political danger, david. there is young voters out there, very independent. they think that old washington doesn't get the world they live in. >> governor, make a final point on this. >> final point is they gave the option to go to the states. if the republican party doesn't like the federal government, then the governor should step up like steve beshear did to get this done. this is an argument about a broken website versus a broken political party. >> let me do one thing before i turn. there is still a test here for whether government can manage this. and i think liberals and conservatives do understand this, because it will affect other priorities. let me turn you to something else that really struck me this week because it's about politics but it's also about parenting. i've got young kids, i think all of us have kids of various ages around the table. it has to do with the maryland attorney general who over the summer was at a party and was

looking for his son. and you see him there, this is doug ganser, the attorney general. he's got his iphone out there. he was at the party and later explained it saying he just wanted to talk to his son, but there was apparently underage drinking going on as there probably is at a lot of parties. this is what he said last week when he was asked about it. >> perhaps i should have assumed there was drinking going on and i got that wrong. what i can tell you is that at no time while i was in the house did i see any teenager in any danger or any risk. there could be kool-aid in the red cups but there's probably beer in the red cups. >> what should he have done? and i'm not just asking this as a journalist to a politician but as a parent. >> to defend a democrat, the spirit of bipartisanship, if i've learned anything raising teenagers who are now in their 20s, it's that a parent has to be there. you have to be involved every

day. and to his credit, he was. okay? there's going to be a beach week, kids are going to be there. you know what's going to happen, every parent does. but at least he was there and he has rules, and he was trying to enforce them. >> what rules was he trying to enforce? >> well, he was there and -- >> but if there's drinking going on and you're a representative of your state. >> what he did wrong was he acted as a politician and not a parent. he's saying things in that press conference that all of us know are not true to get him in a political situation. instead, what should he have said? i was there, i was going to take care of my kids the best i could, i tried to enforce the rules -- >> look, i have teenage boys and i have teenage girls. my teenage boys and girls do not go tie party where there's drinking, they leave. if they don't leave, i'm going to go and tell the parent that i

don't want any activity like that going on where my son or daughter is at. that's what you do as a parent. you stand up and fight for them and you fight for what's right for them, and the fact that he didn't do that -- there was a day when parents actually went to other parents and said, hey, stop doing things that undermine the morals of my children. but i guess we don't do that anymore. >> we seem to lack community standards in a lot of ways. here's what i find. there is much too much reluctance to say to you, you know, i have a question about what your kids were doing. i have a question about what you were doing at your house when my kid was over there, and can we talk about that? >> i don't have teenage kids. i have a tween, and i definitely think you have to send the right message to your kids. sanctioning a beach party is not something i would do. but i would say one of the hardest things is there are a lot of parents, when you deliver a message, whether it's bullying or underage drinking, those other parents don't want to hear it. and it is a big tension. to be able to go -- i think he

should have gone to other parents. i think he should not have hosted the beach week. that's my psonal view of this. >> i don't know that he was actually hosting it himself, but the point is, too, my wife who is former federal prosecutor says you are either an upstander or bystander. there are laws on the books and he is the attorney general governor. he may say, look, i'm a parent, this is not my place. but he is the attorney general of the state. >> there is a parental hat, and i hate this story because there but for the grace of god for any of us who have teenagers could act, but as a political hat, he was in a position to be at a place with a bunch of young people drinking who all have cell phones. politically that was not a smart move for him. as a parent, however, he does need to be present. and he made sure there were chaperones there, but the chaperones obviously weren't doing their job if all the underage kids were drinking. >> the parents did this together. they got that for those kids. >> here's part of my point.

as a politician, you have the spotlight. as a parent, what we parents need to know, my kids are young, 11 and 8, and i'm more worried about technology than i am about drinking and drugs yet. whether it's sexuality, allegations of rape, drugs, all sorts of things can be happen at these parties. we have to have a communication about the legal difficulties and the moral difficulties of doing this. that was a time to have that conversation. >> when your kids get to be teenagers, all our kids grow old too young and have to deal with things they're not prepared to do. and these things will happen. they're going to find themselves in this situation. step one, i think to ganser's credit, is to be there as a parent. he at least did that. did he make the right call? he should have done something. but let's give the guy some credit. at least he was participating in the lives of his kids. he missed one.

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little bit. got to check in every week. you were here with hillary clinton, big presentation to cap council for american progress? >> center for american progress. >> center for american progress. hillary clinton way on top of the pack, although there was some movement for support of elizabeth warren among college-educated mostly women, an indication she could take a little heat on her left and a challenge on her left. what did you learn this week as to a better indication that she needs some convincing to actually run? >> we've got a long time away from 2016. i know it's really fascinating and interesting. i think what's most interesting is how actually unified the democratic party is. if you actually look at where the democratic party is on issues and in terms of candidates versus the republican party with ted cruz in iowa on friday night basically doing an

infomercial against the republican party in washington, i think the big difference between the parties is there is a lot of support for hillary, there is a lot of support on issues, there is a real crack-up in the republican party right now. >> rick santorum, of course, you ran for president last go-around. we talk about ted cruz. it's an opportunity to see him pheasant hunting, which we don't want to miss that opportunity. to what extent do you think he's for president? >> there isn't a leader in the republican party right now. that's part of the problem, that's part of the mess and the confusion. but that's always the way it is with a party out of power. you have lots of different faces and those faces, as we've seen, they come and they go. >> is he doing more harm than good, more good than harm? come on, you can be up on that debate stage with him in iowa. >> i would say in the end he did more harm.

i think it was not his objective. i think his objective was a laudible one. i don't think he did a very good job and pointed it out. i think it's one thing to have a goal and a plan to get you to that goal. >> he is the face of the republican party. he continues to make us the party of no. when the house is burning down, you don't want a critic, you want somebody to actually put out the fire and get this economy going again. to be determined if he grows. >> thank you all very much. coming up here, one year after hurricane sandy, emotional devastation, but also some recovery. my conversation with my colleague brian williams, his personal reflections [ male announcer ] it is more than just a new car... more than a new interior lighting system. ♪ it is more than a hot stone massage. and more than your favorite scent infused into the cabin. it is a completely new era of innovation.

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watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. our commitment has never been stronger. this coming week marks the one-year anniversary of hurricane sandy, devastating the northeast and particularly the jersey shore. it caused widespread damage. the effects are still being felt today. for my co-anchor brian williams, it was especially devastating for someone who lived where he worked. welcome, brian. >> thank you, david. >> we're looking at how personal this was for you, but as the anniversary comes, headlines pop up, "year after hurricane sandy, victims contest christie's status."

what is your grasp as you talk to people, as you go there? how is it a year later? >> something i realize, and it's taken me a year to realize it, david, i was so reluctant to use the k word a year ago, and that is, to compare it to katrina. but one thing i've learned in these 12 months, being here in the tri-state area, spending the entire summer back at the jersey shore where we have a place, and as you know, where i grew up. and having friends in the rockaways, staten island, breezy point is for this region. and given the density of the population, this was, indeed, our katrina. i can take you for long drivers on stretches of the jersey shore where very little has come back. you can point to the houses where the owners are gone. you can point to the places where they're rebuilding like the outer banks in north carolina up on stilts, where they're waiting for fema checks and state checks. 27,000 people or thereabouts in new jersey still out of their

homes. even more in new york. this devastated and densely populated area, and like katrina, more than that it now questions people when they look at the water, when they look at where the water broke through when they wonder, is there any holding it back, and is this going to change the way we live and enjoy the coastline? >> a lot of our viewers remember how personal your reporting of katrina was, when you started in this role at "nightly news." and yet for you to go home and cover a story that has taken on that magnitude was something different altogether. journalastically and personally. >> yes, it was something to be with all those folks, what, 10,000 people in the superdome. we decided to ride it out with them and spent weeks in that area and grieved with them, and we still go back and stay in touch. but to have it be home, to have it with all your summer

memories. every night when we sit in this very studio, we think about the fact that we have folks in all 50 states depending on us. we struggle to not have news that's new york-centric or washington-centric, remembering this is a big country. but this was home, it was this area. you can't trade where you're from, nor would i trade with anyone else, so if our coverage seemed personal, it was just because we couldn't prevent it. this was home getting ripped up before our eyes and large portions of it still are. >> brian, as you go back, then, in the week ahead to look at it one year later, what are your big questions? what have you found? what do you want to know now? >> who is not being served, who has made the choice not to come back? among new jerseyans with that state motto, the government is stronger than the storm, most people i know wouldn't think of

looef leaving, but we know some people who have reluctantly made that decision. government is coming in in a sweeping ways. there are cities and towns getting corrugated steel walls between them and the ocean. they didn't ask for that, but this looks like a survival tool. i want to know who is not coming back, i want to know who is not being served, and i want to know whose lives are being changed forever. we'll visit a place on tuesday where neighbors knew neighbors. you had no choice, you were heart against the other house. is that really going to come back? is it going to feel like the old place? >> this impact in weather becomes a big debate for people, especially where government can help and where government can't do anything. brian, thanks so much. >> david, thanks for having me. >> in a programming note here, brian will be anchoring special coverage live in breezy point to mark the sandy anniversary. that's "nightly news" this

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so much discussion already about that last image to remember, the cardinals winning in passionate fashion with that controversial call last night. our images continue to remember this sunday. we'll be back next week. if it's sunday it's "meet the press."

coming up early today, four convicts escape from prison. the obama website goes down adding insult to the plagued program. lou reed who took us all on a walk on the wild side has died. that and much more starting today. this is "early today" for monday, october 28. good monday morning to you. a massive inmate escape through a jail shower sunday morning. the men carried out their daring escape. they were housed together